CHAP. IX. 



GAME BIRDS. 



417 



it be some that from their rarity are seldom met with, 

 and are therefore not to be counted upon for sport; but on 

 the plains there are plovers and quails, while in some of 

 the marshes snipe abound, and geese and ducks are to be 

 got wherever there is water to float them. There are 

 several varieties of plover, but the " Umbangaqua," the 

 " Ititihoya," and the common golden species, are the most 

 often met with. Of these, passing over the latter well- 

 known bird with the remark that it exists far up the East 

 coast, the Umbangaqua is most deserving of notice. It 

 is a large bird, of a brown and reddish-white speckled 

 colour, having a broad flat head, and a peculiar white bar 

 across some of the wing feathers. It is found in small 

 flocks or pairs among the broken banks of streams or 

 dried-up water-courses, and lies close during the day, 

 becoming wild towards dusk. It is easily killed, and is a 

 most satisfactory bird to bag, having but few equals for 

 the purposes of the table, and though it is not found in 

 sufficient numbers to make it worth while to especially go 

 out after it, yet when one happens to meet with it several 

 couple may be killed. 



The ititihoya, so called from its peculiar cry, is the 

 most common and widely distributed of all, being found 

 over the whole of South and Eastern Africa, and inhabit- 

 ing the thorn country, as well as the treeless plains. It 

 is much smaller than the former, and so much is lost in 

 legs and wings that on the table it appears scarcely larger 

 than a woodcock. There is no difficulty in shooting them, 

 as they are far from shy ; and even when fired at seldom 

 do more than make a few circles in the air, and light 

 again not many hundred yards off. Their cry is a loud 



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